In the Sphere
by kanarazu
Summary: Paine finds a sphere containing a surprising secret about her friends and decides to look into it. GippalxBaralai, mpreg.
1. Chapter 1

Paine wiped her brow, relieved that she was not using her usual warrior dressphere but her white mage one instead. It was far too hot in Bikanel Desert to wear black, let alone black leather. She considered the effort worthwhile, however, since digging for parts netted her a good pay and (mostly) kept her away from ogling glances she would rather not put up with.

Heading back to her hover, she looked at her most recent treasure, held in her palm. A sphere. Paine observed it briefly in her hand, noting how brightly it shined with the sun's rays hitting it. It was in near-perfect condition with no chips and only a few light scratches on it. Either its previous owner had cherished it or it was quite new. Paine supposed she wouldn't be able to find out unless she turned it on, and so she passed her thumb over the switch, hearing the soft whirring sound of it starting up.

As was characteristic of all spheres, there were lines on the screen making the picture imperfect, but the video was crisp aside from that. Paine leaned against her hover as the field of view began with a stone floor, bare at first, then covered with a woven blanket a few feet further away. Slightly further still was a bed, but only about half of it was shown with bent legs clothed in long boots on top of it.

"So you're filming the room for her now?" It was a male voice, one with a hint of a non-Spiran accent to it. Paine would know that voice anywhere; it was Gippal's.

"Why, something wrong with that?" A different voice responded this time, playful and gentle at the same time. Baralai.

"Not at all, just wondering why you'd want to show her this place." A soft creak of the bed was audible as the sphere moved to show the stone walls of the room and the several machines that stood in front of them.

"I just want to show her how talented you are." The sphere finally shifted to the left side of the room, revealing a shirtless Gippal sitting casually with his legs slung over the side of his bed. He hadn't changed from what Paine could remember, though it had been about half a year since she had last seen him. Gippal and Baralai were busy assisting Nooj in melding the three factions together and while the future looked positive, it was still going to take time and effort to make changes again.

Gippal chuckled and gave an all-too-pleased smirk. "I think you would know best that my real talent isn't making machines, Baralai."

There was a brief silence in which Gippal kept his gaze just slightly above the focus of the sphere. "Yes, I guess that's true," Baralai eventually responded, a slight wavering to his voice that almost went unnoticed when followed by Gippal's loud laughter. He stood up from the bed and held his hand out, smiling even brighter than when he heard they had made the Crimson Squad. His mouth opened as he took his first step toward the sphere, and the video abruptly cut out.

Paine clicked the sphere off. Who was this "her" they were talking about? Briefly toward the beginning she had wondered if the recording had been aimed at herself, but what need would there have been to show her Gippal's talent in making machines? Moreover, Paine had already seen his room before at their last reunion. It would have been a mean joke to film such a thing for Rikku considering her past relationship with Gippal and the fact that Gippal and Baralai were now romantically involved. The two weren't all that close to Yuna, either.

Curious, Paine decided to watch one more time. She pressed the switch once more, expecting to see the floor again, but instead there was static. Following that was a different view, this time of slightly rumpled bed sheets and a pillow with a clear concave shape, as though it had just been used. Without sound, the focus shifted to the left, revealing Baralai for the first time in the recording. Though the view was only from the neck up, his slow breathing and closed eyes seemed to indicate he was asleep. He was lying on his side, facing the sphere, face buried in a fluffy pillow and his soft hair slightly mussed.

"This is how Baralai looks while he's sleeping," Gippal whispered, cautious but certainly amused. "There aren't too many people who get to see this face, so consider yourself lucky."

The sphere zoomed out, showing Baralai's dark arm bent next to his head, his hand hidden beneath the pillow. It also revealed that Baralai's shoulders were bare as well as the top half of his lightly muscled chest.

"He sleeps a lot sounder now that you're here," Gippal continued, his voice warm and soft, before shifting the focus further down Baralai's body.

Paine's eyes widened at the view she was now being presented with. Baralai's other arm, particularly noticeable against the pure white sheet, was gently cradling a rounded bulge.

A hand of a lighter skin tone reached out from behind the sphere's view and rubbed the firm bump in the sheet, flattening said sheet out to clearly outline the altered shape of Baralai's middle.

"_Banvald_ (Perfect)," Gippal whispered in his native tongue, sounding almost breathless with wonder. "He's always wearing those big robes because he's afraid of people noticing, but… I think you're becoming pretty obvious, little girl."

The field of view shifted further to the side and captured Gippal leaning forward and kissing the swollen mound reverently, the look in his eye possessive once it opened to look toward the sphere. Once it closed again, Gippal didn't move for several seconds until Baralai did the moving for him, his arm sliding up from his lower belly to move his hand into Gippal's thick blond hair, not pushing the younger man away, but bringing him closer.

Gippal softly moaned Baralai's name, turning his head to press a kiss to his inner arm before planting another one on his covered stomach. Lazily, his arm reached up and blocked the view of the sphere for a second before it shut off.

Paine found herself a little too shocked to move, staring out at the vast, yellow sand until the sound of the sphere replaying brought her out of her astonished thoughts. She flipped the switch off and held the sphere tightly. First, this was not an elaborate joke; Baralai would never go for it. Second, she had seen something private. Baralai was pregnant and understandably, he and Gippal had yet to announce the addition to their family. But most of Spira seemed to believe that they were simply close friends given their history together. Paine took an odd comfort in knowing that they seemed happy, however, Gippal especially. But how had this sphere gotten lost, and how long ago had this footage been recorded? It had to have been within the past six months since Paine hadn't noticed any sort of protrusion of Baralai's robes when she last saw him. Perhaps this was the reason why their last reunion had been so long ago.

After all, it seemed that Baralai and Gippal weren't so busy changing the politics of Spira so much as they were busy caring for a developing baby and preparing for her arrival. It was time for Paine to pay some friends a visit.


	2. Chapter 2

Paine was certain the room shown in the first half of the sphere was Gippal's, located in a fairly small house in the vicinity of Djose Temple. She found it a bit strange that he hadn't built a larger one considering his skill and gracious income, but there were a lot of things Gippal did that Paine did not understand nor feel like trying to. Her friends were unique, but she had to admit that that made them interesting.

She had wasted little time in setting out for Gippal's home, partially hoping that her two friends were still there. She wanted to find them and make them explain themselves, but wouldn't they have gotten plenty of visitors staying in such an obvious location? The press was not rabid in Spira, but there was plenty controversial about the former praetor of New Yevon and the Al Bhed leader of the Machine Faction being in a relationship, let alone that they were expecting a child together. Paine had seen many strange things in her life, so she wasn't disgusted by what she had seen on the sphere, but she could only guess how Baralai could have conceived.

And couldn't they have at least waited until they were older and less talked about?

Paine stopped her hover when her destination was in sight. She didn't want to be obvious to the public and didn't want Gippal and Baralai to see she was coming. She wanted to know the truth and with the amount of caution that she expected them to be taking, they could hide things from her if they had time to prepare for her arrival.

With that in mind, Paine slipped her charm bangle on to repel fiends. Even if the slice of her blade wouldn't make enough noise, the sounds of the defeated fiend certainly would.

When she reached the house, she frowned. None of the shades had been drawn and the house looked empty, abandoned. She continued on in case this was just a trick, and opened the front door with ease.

"Hey, you guys here?" she called, though not as loudly as she could have. Her heels clicked softly on the stone floor as she advanced, finding nothing but empty rooms. Her last shot was Gippal's room, the room at the end of the hallway, the only one with its door shut. Gripping her sword just in case, she opened said door only to find that it was just as empty as the others. The only exception was the presence of a few machines against the wall looking just as they had in the sphere.

Paine sighed. So they had left. She began to turn around until a shining something caught her eye. Bright orange, circular… a sphere was held in the mechanical hand of one of the machines. Paine rushed over and picked it up, flipping the switch without hesitation.

The footage began with Gippal yawning, wearing his favored outfit. He was sitting on his bed, light streaming in through the window behind him. "Aw, man," he mumbled, and then focused on the sphere. "So, uh, as you can probably tell, we've left. As for where we've gone… we're near the place 'where our nightmares began.' You know what we mean, Doctor. The hint was Baralai's idea, so don't blame the crypticness on me."

"'Crypticness?' Is that even a word?" Baralai's voice, sounding tired but amused, asked off-screen.

Gippal waved his hand dismissively and then ran it through his hair with another yawn. He never had been a morning person.

"But we're alright. Baralai's plenty healthy…" he brought the sphere closer to his face and whispered, "and plenty big too. I'd show you, but he's kind of shy about it."

"G-Gippal!" Baralai spouted, causing Paine to raise an eyebrow. Apparently he was more sensitive about that than she had expected.

Gippal's smile broadened and he waved to the sphere. "Hope to see you soon, Doctor. Take care."

Watching the sphere start to replay, Paine figured that the "doctor" Gippal had been referring to was herself. It was a nickname for her that only a handful of people knew about and could be misinterpreted for someone else. Not bad.

But she still did not know why her friends had mentioned her. Had they known she would find the other sphere and come looking after them? There was nothing covert about the first sphere, though. It seemed as though they were trying to hide their secrets, but then why did Paine find such a personal sphere out in the middle of Bikanel Desert?

This seemed too interesting for Paine to keep away from. She was curious to see how they were doing, and the thought of Baralai sporting a round baby belly was pretty amusing.

"'The place where our nightmares began,' huh? Too easy," she said out loud, heading back to her hover. Once she reached it, she started it up and set its coordinates for the Den of Woe.

---

Paine drove all across Mushroom Rock Road in search of a house or anything that resembled one. While the hint from Gippal had been obvious to her, she doubted that they would have actually moved into the Den of Woe, especially since Nooj had ordered that it be closed off permanently, so not even spheres could open up its entrance. Even though Shuyin's tortured soul had finally come to rest, no one wanted to risk keeping the place open.

Seeing nothing, she veered to the right and stopped the hover. The path closest to the place where they faced their first great trial together was certainly not safe for a hover to pass over. After pulling a metal chain out of her bag, she tied her vehicle to one of the thin pillars of rock on the side of the road. Adjusting her charm bangle, she set off, noting that the sky was turning red as dusk approached.

Fortunately, the monsters kept away because of her bangle and there was no one around. Yaibal and the other members of the former Youth League no longer guarded this path. They continued to serve Nooj but Paine wasn't certain where they had gone. She hadn't wanted to speak with anyone but Baralai and Gippal, however, so she couldn't exactly say she missed their presence. Prying questions were just trouble.

Walking along the uneven rocky road was simple for Paine now, though she distinctly remembered having to watch her step the first time she passed over it with her fellow Gullwings members. She was fortunate to be so familiar with the path because the sudden call of her name might have caused her to trip otherwise.

"Finally found us, huh?" the voice shouted and Paine heard a faint echo of it.

Gippal never had been very discreet.

She looked down in the direction she heard her friend's voice coming from and felt relieved to see him mostly unchanged. He still wore his eye patch and a uniquely designed outfit that screamed 'I'm Al Bhed and proud of it.' What had changed was his smile; it was no longer mildly seductive and slightly burdened. He was practically beaming and acting far too carefree for a man with his responsibilities.

Despite her criticisms, Paine smiled back and jumped down the few large boulders to where her younger friend was standing, hand on his hip.

"I knew something strange was up when the monsters suddenly left. Not too many people have charm bangles around here," Gippal said, explaining why he was out there.

Paine was a little surprised. She hadn't thought of her friends noticing such a thing. Gippal usually was sharper than she gave him credit for.

"So, you found the sphere, right?" Gippal asked, trying to sound casual and cool, but Paine saw right through him.

"Two, actually," Paine responded with a slight smirk.

Gippal's eye widened and his hand unceremoniously slid off his hip. "Wha--? Two…? You didn't—Wait, where did you find them?"

"Your old house," Paine explained slowly and calmly, in great contrast to Gippal, "and Bikanel Desert."

Gippal crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brows in confusion. "The Bikanel Desert…?"

Paine cut to the chase. "Baralai's pregnant, isn't he?"

Gippal looked at her out of the corner of his eye, his cheerfulness suddenly muted. "So you did find a second one. Are you the only one who's seen it?"

"Yes, as far as I know," Paine answered, her voice suddenly taking on a gentler tone. Gippal made it pretty obvious when he was nervous about something and she had no interest in causing him concern.

Gippal nodded slowly. "Then I guess it's time we got you caught up, Doctor P. Follow me and I'll tell you everything."


	3. Chapter 3

Paine didn't hesitate to follow her old friend as he led the way, presumably to where he and Baralai now lived. But where did they live anyway? Mushroom Rock Road was hardly a safe place to wander, let alone live. The fiends were numerous and the darkness of night brought out its real dangers. Paine was certain that the fiends were nothing Baralai couldn't handle, but that would have been before his pregnancy. Baralai relied on speed and swift hits in battle to survive; taking that away and making his body heavy and unbalanced would leave him practically defenseless. Paine shifted her gaze to Gippal. Somehow, it seemed that he had managed to protect Baralai, which must have been no easy feat.

"So, you have a lot of questions, right? Shoot," Gippal tossed over his shoulder. He was walking with long strides and Paine's shorter height and high heels kept her from easily keeping up, but she wasn't about to admit her disadvantage and complain.

"Are the two of you living alone?" she started.

"Mmhm." Gippal nodded and lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "We're trying to keep this secret for now."

"If you're trying to keep it a secret, then why impregnate him in the first place?" Paine asked, a bit of an edge to her tone.

Gippal chuckled and allowed his arms to swing at his sides. "That's something I'll need to let Baralai answer."

Paine didn't respond to that and after a moment, her Al Bhed friend slowed down to match her pace and walk beside her.

"But I can tell you this: it wasn't an accident."

Paine looked up and made eye contact with Gippal. His green eye was shining, the corner of his lips curled upward in a playful smirk.

"Then," she paused briefly, "you planned it?"

"Sure did," he responded. "Didn't think it was going to work, but it did… first try, even."

Now Gippal sounded like he was gloating. Some things just didn't change. Paine rolled her eyes. "Thanks, but I didn't need to know that."

Gippal laughed. "Anytime, Doctor P, anytime."

"You sound very sure of yourself for someone who's in hiding," Paine teased.

"Hey…" Gippal sobered up fairly quickly, lowering his head. "I need to make sure his pregnancy runs as smoothly as it can. If we're found out after he gives birth, then I can share the burden with him. We can both take care of the baby once she's here, but I can't share the burden of carrying her, you know?"

Paine blinked in surprise. Gippal sounded like he was on to something there. He could be responsible, she knew; he did run an entire faction, after all. "Well, I guess you do say good things sometimes."

Gippal smiled a little and shrugged. He didn't seem entirely comfortable with sharing a personal and somewhat vulnerable side of himself, but from the way it sounded, he hadn't had the chance to share these thoughts with anyone else.

"We're almost there," he informed after a moment of silence between them.

Paine nodded and though the sky was quickly darkening, she could see a fairly large single floor structure in the distance. "How did you…?"

"What, the house? Nooj," Gippal answered. "He's been our single contact for the last several months. He and I built it early on. Baralai helped a little too."

"Then… he knows?" Paine asked.

"Yep. Proudest uncle I've ever seen," Gippal declared, placing his hands on his hips.

Paine looked at him dubiously. "You've got to be kidding me." Nooj, an uncle and proud of it?

"He thought it was strange at first, but he's been changing the last few months. Not sure what caused it, but maybe the Deathseeker's starting to understand the miracle of life." Gippal laughed. "Or something like that."

Paine wasn't certain she could bring herself to believe that without seeing it. "Well, now I've heard everything. Next you'll be telling me that you're pregnant, too."

"Actually…" Gippal looked down at himself and placed a hand on his lower stomach, his thumb rubbing gently over the material covering his flat skin.

"Cut it out!" Paine nearly cried, not wanting to be right at all.

Gippal's laugh indicated he was entirely too pleased with himself. "Just kidding, calm down. But I am going to carry the next one."

Paine made a choked sound. Surely that was a joke too, wasn't it?

"I'm not having Baralai go through this again," he said softly, voice suddenly serious as they reached the wooden door. "_Palyica E muja res_…"

Paine was unfortunately not fluent in Al Bhed, but what Gippal said immediately reminded her of a particular moment from their time spent on the S.S. Winno. She had been sitting on a bench on the dock, hands busy testing out her other spheres to ensure that they would work when she heard Baralai and Gippal conversing. They were standing side by side with their backs to her, looking out off the side of the ship. She found it slightly odd that they were standing so close to one another, close enough that the entire length of their arms from shoulder to hand was touching. Come to think of it, they had been staying in close proximity to each other a lot, whether they were sitting or standing. They were so different, Paine thought; it was surprising that they were getting along so well.

They broke out into laughter suddenly but didn't look away from the ocean. Once they had calmed down, Paine heard Gippal say it. Softly, as though he didn't want anyone else to hear.

"_E muja oui._"

"Ah, sorry, what was that?" Baralai still sounded slightly breathless from laughing.

"Al Bhed," Gippal responded promptly. "I'll teach it to you someday."

Paine still didn't know what Gippal had said that day, but she believed she had a pretty good guess.

Not bothering to translate, just as he hadn't that day, Gippal rapped his knuckles against the door: _one, two, one-two-three_.

"Yo, Baralai! I've brought the doctor," he announced, his tone lighter once again. As he paused, seeming to listen for a response from his beloved, Paine crossed her arms. She realized that she hadn't asked how far along Baralai was, but he must have been close to full term. She had to admit that she was a little anxious to see him.

After a strangely long pause, a gentle, maybe slightly shy voice that was clearly Baralai's answered. "Come in."

Gippal grasped the doorknob and kept his hand there motionless.

"What are you waiting for?" Paine asked, knowing that her friend was playing around with her.

"Are you sure you're ready to see this?" he asked with false seriousness.

Paine sighed. "Yes," she answered impatiently, letting Gippal know that she wasn't appreciating this.

There was a chuckle from behind the door. "Let her in, Gippal."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." With that, Gippal swiftly opened the door and only a few feet away stood the man Paine had been waiting to see.

She had thought Baralai's middle was large in the sphere she had found, but it had somehow managed to grow quite a bit bigger since then. He was dressed in a robe that looked like one a member of New Yevon would wear, but it lacked the various symbols associated with the religion and Bevelle. While it didn't quite emphasize his heavily rounded stomach, it certainly did not hide it. Not that it could, Paine believed; he was too far along for anyone to mistake his condition. Fortunately, he was tall and that seemed to help him carry the weight fairly well. There were some other changes that were less noticeable too, including in his face which had filled out a little and his hair that was a couple of inches longer but still pushed back.

"It's good to see you," he greeted, waving his arms out in a circle and then bringing them together above the mound of his middle, several inches of space between his hands that faced each other palm-to-palm. Bowing as much as his state would allow him, Paine recognized the stance a Yevonite took on while praying.

"Good to see you too," Paine answered with a nod, and suddenly didn't know what else to say. Fortunately, Gippal spoke up so she didn't have to.

"Aw, c'mon, Doctor P!" he exclaimed, placing a hand on her shoulder which she didn't push away. "You're acting as if you two don't even know each other!"

"Well, it has been a while," Baralai said, his brown eyes warm as he looked fondly at their friend. "She hasn't seen me toting an extra passenger around."

"Is it alright?" Paine asked, finding her voice. "The baby?"

"Yes," Baralai answered, placing a hand on his belly. "Gippal wouldn't have left the house if she weren't."

Out of the corner of her eye, Paine saw Gippal smile. "When are you due?" she finally asked.

"In about a month," the eldest of the trio responded, sliding his hand down to the side of the bulge, rubbing his hand gently in a circle.

The hand on Paine's shoulder squeezed and Gippal spoke softly, "I know what you're thinking. 'He can't possibly get any bigger, right?' But he will."

Paine had a hard time imagining that. She almost felt sorry for Baralai with the pain his back must have been in, but she reminded herself that he had wanted this.

"We'll see how smug you are when it's your turn," Baralai threatened lightly and Paine didn't miss how he winced for just an instant afterwards.

Immediately, the warmth of Gippal's hand left her shoulder and went for Baralai's, gripping firmly. "Let's sit you back down, huh?" he said gently, leading his expecting significant other to the padded bench against the wall, keeping his hands strong and supportive beneath Baralai's arms as he sat down.

"I'm all right," Baralai assured him, sounding slightly embarrassed at the attention.

One of Gippal's hands moved down to the bench while the other moved to Baralai's prominent stomach. Paine faintly heard Gippal say something, but she didn't understand it—Al Bhed again? —and watched as he pressed his lips to the dark skin of Baralai's forehead.

This was going to take some getting used to.

* * *

Author's Note: I just noticed that I had anonymous reviews disabled. Argh. My apologies if you wanted to comment anonymously and could not. But it's fixed now, so go right ahead. Thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed so far!

I'm also sorry about the somewhat delayed update. Hopefully the length makes up for it.


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